


Tradition

by Claire



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-30
Updated: 2010-12-30
Packaged: 2017-11-02 04:16:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/364878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Claire/pseuds/Claire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which there are traditions, and then there is Misha...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tradition

When Jensen was a kid he'd lie in bed on Christmas morning, watching as the sky lightened and counting the hours down in his head. He'd sneak into his parents' bedroom (earlier than they'd said he could but late enough that he knew they'd let him stay) and climb between them until they're all ready to make their way downstairs.

Dad would make his traditional Christmas breakfast of pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, while mom did the last of the prep for dinner and put the roast in the oven to cook. After breakfast, they'd open their presents and then watch movies until dinner was ready.

Christmas was a time for slowing down, for letting the day wash over you in a haze of quiet. Which is why Jensen was completely unprepared for Misha.

Christmas with Misha is-- hectic, is the only word Jensen can think of to describe it. He's used to doing most of his Christmas shopping online, ordering the stuff for his family well in advance and knowing that it's going to arrive in good time. Misha, on the other hand, doesn't start shopping until Christmas Eve, preferring to keep a hold of Jensen's hand as he drags him from shop to shop to shop in the quest for the perfect present.

 _It's tradition--_ is all he'll say as Jensen's pulled through yet another crowd of harried shoppers, the people around them rushed and fraught as Misha holds aloft a plush unicorn and declares it perfect for Jared.

And there's no time for late night movies on Christmas Eve anymore. The DVD of _It's a Wonderful Life_ still on the shelf, supplanted by making cookies, with the clock ticking its way towards midnight and _A Muppet Christmas Carol_ on in the background.

 _Why cookies?_ Jensen asks, not able to dodge out of the way as Misha swipes flour down his nose.

Misha replies that they're making them so they can leave them out for Santa. Doesn't Jensen know that Rudolph gets hungry after all of the flying and that pecan chocolate chip are his favourite? (That they're also Jensen's favourite and enough cookies are made for everyone is beside the point.) _It's tradition--_ he grins, the plate of still-warm cookies in his hand as he walks out of the kitchen, leaving the plate next to the overly large tree dominating the front room.

They'd cut the tree themselves. _We can't have a fake tree,_ Misha had said, handing Jensen his coat and dragging him out of the house. _A fake tree is just wrong,_ he'd said as he started the car, not answering Jensen as he'd asked where they were going. _It's got to be a real one,_ he'd said, as they'd pulled up to _Alan's Christmas Tree Lot_.

Jensen had looked at the lot, a miniature pine forest behind a chain fence. He'd watched as Misha walked up to the shed that was there, brightly lit with a flashing _Merry Xmas_ above it. He'd watched as Misha handed over money, coming back with two axes and a saw. _Which one do you want?_ Misha had asked, motioning to the trees.

 _We're cutting one down?_ had been Jensen's only response. Because there were other things they could be doing on a Saturday night, especially when Jensen still had a perfectly good tree in the loft at home.

But Misha had just laughed. _Of course we are, Jen. It's tradition--_ (And they never mentioned the incident with the squirrel again.)

At first, Jensen doesn't know why Misha does all this, doesn't know if it's just Misha being Misha, frantic and fast and unable to just _stop_. It's not until Misha starts talking that Jensen understands. In the stillness of the night, Misha tells him about how, when his dad finished work on Christmas Eve, they go out to find a present for Misha's mom, wrapping it in the back of the car and sneaking it upstairs so she wouldn't see. He tells Jensen about his grandmother, and about how the two of them always made cookies before Christmas until she got sick, and how, afterwards, his mom made them, always setting one aside for babushka. He tells him about his uncle, and about how he'd always bring them a tree every year and, after they'd finished decorating it, he'd lift Misha up to place the star on top.

And Jensen gets it, he does. So he holds a little tighter to Misha's hand as they dive through the crowds, dodging an elbow in the stomach from an elderly lady as they grab the last _Sparkle Princess Barbie_ for Jared. And he makes sure they have extra flour in the house, have enough to make a batch of cookies for the reindeer and a batch for them to eat, curled on the couch and watching as Kermit sings about one more sleep 'til Christmas.

And he just grins when Jared looks at him and asks why Jensen's just knocked back the offer of a night at Jared's getting drunk in favour of cutting down a Christmas tree with Misha. He grins and shrugs as he spots Misha across the set, hands in his pockets and leaning against the car as he waits for Jensen. Grins and shrugs as he slaps Jared on the shoulder and answers in the only way he can. _Sorry, Jay; it's tradition--_


End file.
